The Holocaust

IMLS and Council of American Jewish Museums Partner to Address Antisemitism

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 7, 2024

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM) held an invitation-only summit "Museums Respond: Strategies for Countering Antisemitism and Hate" on March 5–6 in Washington, DC, where federal officials and museum leaders shared their perspectives on addressing antisemitism, with the goal of informing museum programming across the country. The summit was convened as part of IMLS's commitments under President Biden's National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, released in May 2023. 

Key Points: 
  • "The current crisis of antisemitism threatens not only the Jewish community, but all Americans."
  • The National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism includes more than 100 actions the Biden-Harris Administration is taking to address the rise of antisemitism in the U.S.
  • In addition, IMLS has completed the following commitments under the National Strategy:
    IMLS increased learning opportunities for the nation's more than 40,000 museums, archives, and libraries on both Jewish American history, such as Jewish contributions to agriculture, and histories of antisemitism, including the Holocaust.
  • IMLS strengthened its funding streams to encourage libraries, archives, and museums to leverage IMLS funding to take direct action and support cross-community solidarity building efforts to counter antisemitism and other forms of hate.

The ADIR Challenge Foundation Launches Anti-Semitism Technology & Innovation Challenge with UJA-Federation of New York, the Shoah Foundation and the Anti-Defamation League

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 6, 2024

NEW YORK, March 6, 2024  /PRNewswire/ -- The ADIR Challenge Foundation, in collaboration with UJA-Federation of New York, the USC Shoah Foundation, and research partner, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), is issuing a call to action to source bold, creative ideas for shaping major technology competitions aimed at combating antisemitism and hate on a global scale.

Key Points: 
  • The ADIR Challenge Foundation is committed to supporting the development and implementation of innovative solutions through this challenge and the ecosystem that emerges from these efforts.
  • The ADIR Challenge Foundation is seeking ideas that cover a range of topics, including:
    Identifying key antisemitism problem areas where innovation and technology could provide effective solutions.
  • Disclaimer: UJA-Federation does not control, operate or manage the ADIR Challenge Foundation or the administration or results of the ADIR Challenge.
  • The selection process, judging criteria, and final decisions are the sole responsibility of the ADIR Challenge Foundation.

Maxon Congratulates 2024 Visual Effects Oscars Nominees

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, March 5, 2024

BAD HOMBURG, Germany, March 5, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Maxon, developers of professional software solutions for editors, filmmakers, motion designers, visual effects artists, and creators of all types, congratulates all the VFX artistic teams shortlisted and nominated for the 96TH ACADEMY AWARDS®. This achievement recognizes the dedication and hard work of the visual effects teams in creating engaging stories and unforgettable experiences for moviegoers.

Key Points: 
  • BAD HOMBURG, Germany, March 5, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Maxon , developers of professional software solutions for editors, filmmakers, motion designers, visual effects artists, and creators of all types, congratulates all the VFX artistic teams shortlisted and nominated for the 96TH ACADEMY AWARDS® .
  • This achievement recognizes the dedication and hard work of the visual effects teams in creating engaging stories and unforgettable experiences for moviegoers.
  • "Enthusiasm for the craft of visual effects is palpable in the nominations for this year's Oscars.
  • The Oscar-nominated short Letter To a Pig , produced by The Hive Studio , captivated audiences with its powerful storytelling and stunning visual effects.

Eisenhower Fellowships honors Steven Spielberg with 2024 Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 21, 2024

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Eisenhower Fellowships will award its highest honor, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service, to legendary film director Steven Spielberg for his extraordinary artistic achievements in presenting America's culture and history to the world and his enormous contributions to advancing global understanding.

Key Points: 
  • PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Eisenhower Fellowships will award its highest honor, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service, to legendary film director Steven Spielberg for his extraordinary artistic achievements in presenting America's culture and history to the world and his enormous contributions to advancing global understanding.
  • The Chairman of Eisenhower Fellowships (EF), former U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Robert M. Gates, will present the prestigious medal to Spielberg at the organization's 2024 Annual Awards Dinner on May 15 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
  • "Few people embody President Eisenhower's ideals in their life's work more than Steven Spielberg," Dr. Gates said.
  • "Few people embody President Eisenhower's ideals in their life's work more than Steven Spielberg," Dr. Gates said.

LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES 2023 GEORGE POLK AWARDS IN JOURNALISM

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 19, 2024

NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Five recipients of the 2023 George Polk Awards, announced today by Long Island University, were for coverage of the Israel/Gaza and Russia/Ukraine wars in a year when the university is marking the 75th anniversary of one of American journalism's prized honors.

Key Points: 
  • NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Five recipients of the 2023 George Polk Awards, announced today by Long Island University, were for coverage of the Israel/Gaza and Russia/Ukraine wars in a year when the university is marking the 75th anniversary of one of American journalism's prized honors.
  • The George Polk Awards were established in 1949 by LIU to commemorate George Polk, a CBS correspondent murdered in 1948 while covering the Greek civil war.
  • The awards, which place a premium on investigative and enterprising reporting that gains attention and achieves results, are conferred annually to honor special achievement in journalism.
  • At the same time, sixteen outstanding journalists whose careers reflect a commitment to deep investigative reporting will be honored as "George Polk laureates."

Why do Israelis and the rest of the world view the Gaza conflict so differently? And can this disconnect be overcome?

Retrieved on: 
Friday, February 16, 2024

Once the fighting stops, the world’s attention will shift to tough “day after” negotiations, which would necessitate, among other things, painful and risky concessions from both sides.

Key Points: 
  • Once the fighting stops, the world’s attention will shift to tough “day after” negotiations, which would necessitate, among other things, painful and risky concessions from both sides.
  • Given the vast deficits of trust and favour between Israelis and Palestinians, such concessions will be extremely difficult to achieve.
  • And while learning about the tragedies of others can support healing and reconciliation processes, turning victimhood into a competition has produced polarisation and distrust.

How Israelis are viewing the war

  • More than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, and many more are still under the rubble.
  • However, Israelis don’t see on their screens what the rest of the world sees.
  • Read more:
    Reflections on hope during unprecedented violence in the Israel-Hamas war

A sense of betrayal

  • In their worst nightmares, Israelis could not imagine or make sense of the support for the Hamas attack, or the widespread denial that atrocities had occurred at all.
  • Some of the victims on October 7 had for years been active members of the peace movement.
  • This has been more likely the case on the political left and in the centre, where many people have lost a sense of security and hope.
  • The only thing animating some calls for a ceasefire deal now is the ongoing risk to the hostages and the sense of national responsibility for their fate.

The international campaign for Palestine

  • For much of the world, the never-ending violations of Palestinians’ rights by Jewish settlers, the Israeli state and Israeli security forces have legitimised the struggle for a free Palestine, many times over.
  • However, anger at injustices should not lead to support – or even acquiescence – for the killing of civilians, by either side.
  • Not because this objective is more important than others, but because without it, there will be no end to the occupation.

The ‘day after’ solution

  • Hate comes easily in the face of injustices, as does empathy for the suffering on one own’s side.
  • It is much harder to empathise with the misfortunes of “others” who may or may not have brought their misery upon themselves.
  • Those who have been severely aggrieved may struggle to apply the same yardstick to others, but the rest of us could and should.


Eyal Mayroz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Vladimir Putin justifies his imperial aims in Tucker Carlson interview

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 15, 2024

During his much-publicized recent interview with American right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined his perception of Russian history as the second anniversary of his invasion of Ukraine approaches.

Key Points: 
  • During his much-publicized recent interview with American right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined his perception of Russian history as the second anniversary of his invasion of Ukraine approaches.
  • During his interview with Carlson, Putin traced Russian history to the ninth century.

Putin: Russia saved Europe from Nazis

  • Russia’s identity today is closely connected to the Second World War, or to use Russian parlance, the Great Patriotic War.
  • The fact that 4.5 million Ukrainians fought in the Red Army is largely ignored as Russia argues it alone saved Europe from the Nazis.

Neo-Nazi takeover?

  • News outlets link the war to the invasion of Ukraine, alleging the country was taken over by neo-Nazis in 2014.
  • At the behest of the West, so goes the allegation, Ukrainian protesters overthrew the elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, and installed a neo-Nazi regime.

‘Cleansing’ Ukraine

  • Lavrov recently claimed the Russian invasion of Ukraine has “cleansed” Ukrainian society of those “who do not feel they belong to Russia history and culture.” Medinsky, who authored the Grade 10 history textbook for Russian high school students, has advanced a new interpretation of the Second World War that focuses on the “genocide of the Soviet people.” New graves of Russian victims have suddenly been discovered and excavated, and Soviet losses continue to be counted.
  • As for the Holocaust in neighbouring Belarus — a subject several western scholars are studying — Jews and other minorities are now subsumed under the term “Soviet people.” Just as history is continually being rewritten and propagated in Russian schools, it’s happening in Belarus, too.
  • The two countries will soon produce a common textbook featuring new theories about the “genocide of the Belarusian people.” The memory of the Second World War is alive and well in both nations.

Justifying authoritarianism

  • If it did, why did Putin refrain from denouncing Sweden and Finland when they joined the alliance?
  • They lie in the past, in a narrow, distorted perception of Russian history and Russia’s claims to lands it once ruled.
  • Read more:
    The legacy of the Euromaidan Revolution lives on in the Ukrainian-Russian war

A return to colonialism?

  • Carlson provided Putin with a forum to outline his imperialist dreams.
  • Carlson failed to call out the facile nature of Putin’s claims during the interview.
  • We are a peaceful and free nation.” Mongolia may be.


David Roger Marples does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

As the war in Gaza continues, Germany’s unstinting defence of Israel has unleashed a culture war that has just reached Australia

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

His work led him to being offered a stint at Germany’s prestigious Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology.

Key Points: 
  • His work led him to being offered a stint at Germany’s prestigious Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology.
  • This came less than two months after the Max Planck Foundation, with war in Gaza raging, had announced “additional funding for German-Israeli collaborations”.
  • What to me is a fair, intellectual critique of Israel, for them is “antisemitism according to the law in Germany”.

A political ideal

  • As he succinctly writes:
    I have a political ideal that I have always struggled for regarding Israel/Palestine.
  • It is the ideal of a multi-religious society made from
    Christians, Muslims and Jews living together on that land.
  • I have a political ideal that I have always struggled for regarding Israel/Palestine.
  • It is the ideal of a multi-religious society made from
    Christians, Muslims and Jews living together on that land.
  • His criticism of current Israeli policy, he insists, stems from the Netanyahu government’s determination to “work against such a goal”.

Self-imposed red lines

  • It is worth pointing out that it is not just happening in Germany.
  • Universities in the United States are under siege from students and community groups variously accusing them of both antisemitism and Islamophobia.
  • Largely, however, what’s happening in Germany is a result of some self-imposed red lines the German press, the German courts and the German parliament have imposed on public debate.
  • Rather, it is a result of Germany’s current belief that its genocidal, antisemitic Nazi past implies future unwavering support for Israel.
  • It might equally be said that Germany has a special responsibility to stridently oppose ethnic cleansing, war crimes and genocide wherever they occur.

Enough?

  • Sharp words from German government officials about the renewed Israeli campaign in Rafah suggest this might be possible.
  • The German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned recently “the people of Gaza cannot vanish into thin air”.


Matt Fitzpatrick receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

How memes transformed from pics of cute cats to health disinformation super-spreaders

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 12, 2024

Our research shows that memes form part of a highly sophisticated strategy to spread and monetise health disinformation.

Key Points: 
  • Our research shows that memes form part of a highly sophisticated strategy to spread and monetise health disinformation.
  • Dismissing them as harmless jokes is to grossly underestimate their influence – and bolsters their power to spread potentially harmful health messages.

Anti-vaccine memes have a long history


Memes aren’t a recent invention. They have featured prominently in anti-vaccination messaging for centuries.
When widespread smallpox immunisation began in the early 19th century, political cartoons published in print media used memes (see image below) to evoke fear about the safety of the vaccine.

  • The meme “vaccines cause autism”, which appeared on billboards and was circulated widely in the media, provoked doubts about the safety of the vaccine.
  • The internet enables memes to be created anonymously, repurposed and shared at scale – making them a highly effective medium for spreading health disinformation.
  • Memes play an integral role in disinformation campaigns by facilitating fear, uncertainty and doubt.

Influencers and money

  • Our study analysed how popular anti-vaccine influencers used memes to galvanise the anti-vaccine movement during the COVID pandemic.
  • First, memes were used to vilify the government and social institutions, portraying them as corrupt and politically compromised.
  • Influencers suggested the unvaccinated were being persecuted, using evocative imagery to imply a false equivalence between those who remain unvaccinated by choice and the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust.
  • Vaccination was associated with infertility, low sex drive and a lack of critical thinking.
  • To establish group membership and promote a sense of belonging, influencers referred to those who are anti vaccines as their “soul family”.

Going viral – and avoiding challenge

  • Several influencers provided their followers with “meme drops”: packages of memes with dissemination instructions.
  • These memes were tested and produced in meme factories, then distributed monthly to a mass audience via personal newsletters and websites, encouraging followers to spread anti-vaccination content.
  • By adapting memes to current affairs, influencers increased their relevance and likelihood of going viral.
  • Under the protective guise of humour and satire, memes can evade fact checkers and content moderators while promoting anti-vaccine myths and unauthorised treatments.
  • Memes may not look threatening – but that’s why they are such effective super spreaders of health disinformation.


The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Zone of Interest’s striking depiction of Nazi banality – and other things you should see this week

Retrieved on: 
Friday, February 9, 2024

However, Rudolf Höss is not any man, he is the commandant of Auschwitz and these scenes of domesticity take place in a house bordering the camp.

Key Points: 
  • However, Rudolf Höss is not any man, he is the commandant of Auschwitz and these scenes of domesticity take place in a house bordering the camp.
  • Hannah Arendt’s notion of the “banality of evil” is wrought powerfully in this film that envisages the lives of these real people.
  • It’s not the Nazi uniforms that are the most affecting but the small details that represent the horror.
  • Read more:
    The Zone of Interest: new Holocaust film powerfully lays bare the mechanisms of genocide

Stateside stories

  • The book, his agent tells him, is just not “black enough”.
  • It’s a really funny film that makes some really serious points about structural racism and explores different ideas of authenticity and blackness.
  • Read more:
    Masters of the Air: Apple's Air Force drama is imperfect, but powerful

In your feelings

  • It’s a romantic fantasy drama about 40-something screenwriter Adam (Andrew Scott) and 20-something Harry (Paul Mescal).
  • Their burgeoning relationship opens something up for Adam who is driven to finally confront the loss of his parents.
  • Both our reviewers felt it depicted dating as a 40-year-old gay man today quite well.


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